Candace Owens Criticizes Erika Kirk for Event No-Show: ‘Exhausting'

Candace Owens has publicly accused Erika Kirk of misrepresenting the reasons behind her last-minute withdrawal from a Turning Point USA event, calling the explanation “exhausting” in a sharply worded post that has rapidly gone viral.

In a X post shared April 14 to her account, @RealCandaceO, Owens responded directly to the widow of assassinated Charlie Kirk's statement announcing that she would not appear alongside Vice President JD Vance at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia. Owens' post, which has been viewed more than 3.8 million times, alleged that low ticket sales-not security concerns-were behind the decision, escalating an already-tense public dispute between the two public figures.

The exchange centers on a Turning Point USA event that had been billed as a joint appearance by Kirk and Vance. Shortly before the event was scheduled to begin, Kirk posted on X that she would not attend, citing advice from her security team.

“I was so looking forward to tonight's event at the @universityofga with our Vice President @JDVance,” Kirk wrote. “But after all our family has been through, I take my security team's recommendations extremely seriously. Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all!”

Owens swiftly challenged that explanation. “Stop. This is exhausting,” she wrote in her reply. “You pulled out because of bad ticket sales. For the same reason TPFaith had to ‘reschedule' the Pastor's Summit and various other events quietly.”

Owens went on to accuse Kirk of misleading supporters and questioned her credibility, writing that “people don't believe you and don't line up for you because you struggle to tell the truth about even the most basic facts.”

In the same post, Owens raised a series of pointed challenges, including a demand for evidence supporting claims about Kirk's leadership role within Turning Point USA.

“Where is the video of Charlie appointing you as CEO weeks before his death?” Owens wrote, referencing a claim Kirk had previously alluded to publicly.

Owens also dismissed the notion that a credible security threat had forced Kirk's absence, arguing that such concerns would have affected the entire event.

“The Secret Service sits above your security team,” she wrote. “Were there actually a viable threat, the Vice President would not have continued the event.”

The post concluded with a blistering critique of Kirk's communications strategy, accusing her team of being out of touch with public perception.

“Your closest threat is the s*** Public Relations team you hired that continues to operate under the delusion that they are smarter than the public,” Owens added. “They aren't.”

Kirk’s post had received over 6.3 million views.

The public clash underscores broader tensions within conservative media circles, where disputes increasingly play out in real time on social platforms and quickly attract millions of viewers.

Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, our Al assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 8:46 AM.